You can stay in any of the rooms of the Dolphin Hotel… except for one.
I admit, it’s been awhile since I last saw a horror flick. It was kind of a last minute thing since everyone else had seen the big, must-watch movies (Transformers, Ratatouille…). So, with nothing else to do, my group spent a ridiculous amount of time in the arcade waiting to see a movie we weren’t exactly too thrilled to watch. The point of the matter is, it was summer and friends just wanted to hang out with friends.
We started off with a rather boring man who seemed to have lost all will to live. As a writer he, of course, needed inspiration. As a horror book writer, (generally on the supernatural) he needed a ghostly inspiration. Practically divorced, daughter dead, books not selling, and no real ghost encounter has molded this man to what he is. Yes, Mike Enslin was a pitiful man.
So when a friend sends a postcard from the Big Apple, promising a ghastly experience in one of its many high-rise hotels, he went, just because he didn’t have anything else to do. Curiosity peaked when he wasn’t allowed to stay in a particular room.
The Dolphin was a pleasant place. Not exactly a 5 star, but certainly not a 1 star either. The manager keeps everything orderly and makes sure there are no disturbances. When Mike stubbornly refuses to have another room after hearing about and seeing pictures of the dozens of deaths in that particular room, the manager gave him the keys and left him on the 14th floor.
To be frank, Mike wasn’t expecting much. He’s been to dozen of places that claimed to have an unknown entity lurking around. Heck, he even stayed overnight in those places too. But 1408 was a normal room, a duplicate of the many rooms in the building. It had a bathroom, a bed, and a TV.
At first it looked like a hoax. A chocolate bar left on his pillow by someone. Then that strange clock, counting down an hour (oh yes, the manager did say that people died within an hour). But then suddenly strange things happened. The window slamming on his fingers, the feeling of being watched, the stupid clock repeating a line in a song (~this is just the beginning~). Certainly creeped out, Mike tries to exit the room, but the stupid door ate his key.
The attempts to get out of the room I enjoyed, but the random dead people appearing, blood oozing out of the walls, and non-stop torture made me think that this movie wasn’t horror. It was suspense. I have to admit, it wasn’t a movie that made me stay up late at night but a movie that made me jump in my seat several times. All you can think of was, “Is he gonna get out?” and then BAM another person comes hacking and slashing towards you, suddenly disappears, and you think of the same question once again, except this time you add the word “alive” at the end.
This wasn’t a memorable movie. I tried to blog it as soon as I got home but now, 3 weeks later, I just started writing. It wasn’t just me either. After the movie, several people were complaining, clearly disappointed. The ending wasn’t spectacular either. I suppose it tried to give a creepy sensation but the conclusion just left me feeling empty (despite the large popcorn we ordered). Thought I did like that clock and its songs. It was… disturbingly funny (this is why I have a watch as my clock; it doesn’t make that annoying tick-tacking noise and it doesn’t sing about your impending doom).
hello janny? is this you?